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2011-11-06

Downloads Update - Late, Late Edition

I've been working late tonight updating the Downloads page.  Yawwn!  The following anime links are now available:

1) Shonen Sarutobe Sasuke (Toei, 1959) - English subtitles are finally available, nice!  The English audio ("Magic Boy") is also available.

2) Saiyuki (Toei, 1960) - The video is taken from the German DVD release, with the US dubbed soundtrack ("Alakazam the Great").  We're still waiting for proper English subtitles from the original Japanese release.

3) Anju to Zushio Maru (Toei, 1961) - Toei's fourth animated feature, this is the US dubbed release, "The Littlest Warrior."  Picture is cropped to 4:3 ratio, and the running time is 13 minutes shorter than the Japanese release.

4) Arabian Night: The Adventures of Sinbad (Toei, 1962) - Toei's fifth animated feature is now available in Japanese with English subtitles.  I haven't seen this one yet, so I'm looking forward to watching it.

5) Farewell, Beloved Lupin (Telecom, 1980) - The finale to Lupin III: Series Two, directed by Hayao Miyazaki.  This is a fantastic episode, featuring Sumi Shimamoto as Miyazaki's Heroine in Blue, and the first appearance of the "Superman Robot," which appears in Castle in the Sky and the Ghibli Museum.  Japanese audio with English subtitles.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I actually payed somebody to translate the russian subtitles from Saiyuki. They finished, and I planned on releasing it to bakabt, but after watching the japanese version with subs I decided against it because although the localizations in the English version are grossly innacurate, without them it's a confusing mess to those unfamiliar with the story.
Alakazam the Great is how I fell in love with Journey to the West, and the English dub in my opinion does a better job of getting newcomers interested.

Besides it's not a particularly good Toei film, and not even the best Journey to the West adaptation by a long shot (the Shaw Brothers films and 1970's Monkey Magic are probably my favorites)

I personally hope it never gets translated.

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

That's an interesting point. I've only seen the American version, "Alakazam the Great," and thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I was well aware the US producers had taken liberties with the original material. It was fun to hear Johnathan Winters among the cast, and the story has a fun, freewheeling sense of adventure.

My personal opinion is that Saiyuki is the best of Toei's first three feature animated films. There's a sense of confidence among the animators, as the "Toei style" really comes into its own. Hakujaden, of course, is magnificent, but mostly the work of two men (Yasuji Mori and Akira Daikuhara). Shonen Sarutobe Sasuke is more ambitious visually, but very uneven, and the character designs were just, bleh.

Of the early Toei Doga movies (pre-Horus), Little Prince and the 8-Headed Dragon is my favorite. I'd place Saiyuki and Hakujaden just after those. I really enjoy Gulliver's Space Travels, while Wan Wan Chuushingura has some real fun moments (the final showdown is excellent).

I'm definitely eager to see a Saiyuki fansub, and a DVD with both Japanese and US versions would be better. For copyright reasons, "Alakazam" will only be seen on old VHS tapes and internet downloads.

darren-s said...

Do you know why Miyazaki is credited as Tsutomu Teruki on Farewell, Beloved Lupin? Possibly for contractual reasons?

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

@darrin-s: That's a very good question. We should search through Anipages to see if Ben Ettinger solved that riddle. He's written a lot about Telecom and Lupin III in recent months, so perhaps it's addressed there.

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I have observed that Japanese animators use pen-names now and then. It used to be widely used in videogames in the 1980s.

I used to wonder if Miyazaki's use of a pen-name on those two Lupin episodes was related to Castle of Cagliostro's failure at the box office, but I don't hold to that theory anymore. After all, the studio bosses should know who's directing their TV shows.

We'll have to ask Ettinger what he thinks. Good question!

darren-s said...

Here is what Ben Ettinger wrote me:

An alternate reading 照樹務 of is TERE KO MU, or Telecom. Miyazaki was at studio Telecom at the time. He directed those two episodes just after directing Cagliostro for Telecom using that pen name.

Mystery solved.

dr.hazamakuroo said...

hi. I'm lookind for english subs of saiyuki for months.. Do you have news? Geetings from Kuroo

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